4 secrets for the best slow cooker beef stew

By: Hilary Meyer | Tuesday, October 16, 2012

When I was in culinary school we learned a lot about how to develop flavors. These methods usually involved high-end
ingredients, a lot of prep time and sometimes following complicated procedures to get good results. Little did I know a much
easier path to culinary greatness was sitting in my pantry the whole time I was sweating in a restaurant kitchen. That would
be my slow cooker.

The humble slow cooker can turn out some pretty mean food if you know a few tricks. Not to mention it’s convenient,
relatively inexpensive and very easy to use. (Dinner practically cooks itself!) Take EatingWell’s recipe for Flemish Beef Stew, for example.
In culinary school I would have been meticulously trimming an expensive cut of meat, tournéing vegetables and bathing them
all in veal stock.

But in this version, I’m simply searing bottom round, chopping my veggies and stewing it all together in beer in my slow
cooker. The results are just as delicious. Here are some tricks to getting restaurant-worthy results with your slow cooker:

Tip 1. Maximize Flavor On Your Stove First
Dumping ingredients into your slow cooker and walking away may be convenient, but it’s usually not the best way to get the
most flavor out of your food. You need the caramelized bits you get from searing your meat and vegetables on the stovetop
first. Since you don’t need to worry about cooking things through (they’ll finish in your slow cooker) the process doesn’t
take long. Just heat up a small amount of oil and give your meat and vegetables a sear before adding them to the slow cooker.
Then “deglaze” the pan with liquid to get all the brown, caramelized bits from the sauté pan and pour the flavorful liquid
into the slow cooker.

Tip 2. Pick the Right Meat
When it comes to your slow cooker, not all meat is created equal. To get richly flavored, melt-in-your-mouth-tender meat, you
need to choose tougher cuts that can benefit from hours of cooking. Cuts like chuck, brisket and bottom round are all good
choices—full of flavor and, another perk, relatively cheap too. As your stew cooks, the collagen inside the meat breaks down,
making it tender and delicious.

Tip 3. Pick the Right Vegetables
Just like meat, there are some vegetables that are born to go into the slow cooker. When you’re picking vegetables for your
stew, think hearty: root vegetables like potatoes, turnips and rutabaga are all good options—they can take the prolonged
cooking and still hold their shape. Mushrooms also hold up well. More tender vegetables like snow peas, spinach and other
leafy greens can certainly have their place in the slow cooker, but you may want to add them later; they can disintegrate if
they spend too much time cooking.

Tip 4. Cut Your Ingredients to Size
Bigger is better when it comes to the size of vegetables that will be going into your slow cooker. For vegetables where
holding their shape is important (like chunks of potato or carrots), a good rule of thumb would be pieces no smaller than 1
inch. By cutting them a little larger, they remain toothsome, not mushy when you cook them. For vegetables that contribute
flavor more than texture (like onions and garlic), cutting them smaller is fine. Meat for beef stew should also be cut into
1-inch pieces. Cut the pieces too large and they may not come out as tender.